


Brothel Birthday

by Burgie



Series: SSO Wild West AU [2]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 03:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13825725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Miranda's girls surprise her for her birthday. Miranda belongs to SwimmingTiger, and the wild west AU belongs to clightlee.





	Brothel Birthday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SwimmingTiger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwimmingTiger/gifts).



The Calico, the best (and, contrary to popular belief, cleanest) brothel in New Jorvik, was unusually reserved on this day. It was also unusually closed, all of the clients having been turned away or otherwise sent home. They could always go up against Zelda over in the tavern for a game of cards, or find some entertainment elsewhere. And normally when the brothel was closed, the girls would all be relaxing. But they weren’t.

Miranda, the owner of this fine establishment, had wandered around in a state of confusion for most of the day. There were a lot of hushed conversations taking place, not to mention doors that were swiftly closed or gatherings that were swiftly broken up. At several points throughout the day, Miranda could have sworn that she’d smelled the delicious scent of baking wafting out of one room or another. And sometimes, objects were quickly kicked or pushed out of the way, or hidden behind backs.

And now, the Calico had been closed, without Miranda’s say-so.

“Penelope,” said Miranda, catching one of her older girls by the arm. The brown-haired girl spun around, her muddy brown eyes wide, with a meep.

“Yes, madam?” said Penelope, looking up at her.

“Do you happen to know what is going on today?” asked Miranda. “Why the brothel is closed, and why all the secrecy?”

“Um, no, madam, I have no idea what could possibly be going on,” said Penelope, her eyes sliding away rather suspiciously. Miranda hummed thoughtfully, giving her a stern look, but then let her go with a smile.

“I trust that you know what you are doing,” said Miranda. At least with an early day, she’d have some time to herself. Maybe she could even swing by the smithy to see her lovely Jamie, or check in on her schoolmistress daughter. But it was still far too early in the day for either of those things to be feasible, being only mid-morning, her Jamie would still be hard at work before the sun made blacksmithing unbearable, and her daughter would be inside teaching. And so, Miranda headed upstairs to her office, where she shut the door, put her feet up on her desk, and poured herself a glass of whisky. As she swirled it around, she had a faint smile on her face. She trusted her girls and, whatever they were up to, she knew that they’d be okay. They wouldn’t do anything to put her pleasure house in danger, they loved it here too much.

As the sun made its slow and lazy way across the blue sky, Miranda slowly drank her whisky and listened to the sound of birdsong outside. It had been a long time since she’d been able to just relax like this, and it was wonderful to do so.

But, just as Miranda’s eyelids were beginning to droop, there came a knocking at her door. With a start, Miranda put her feet down from her desk, straightened her skirts, and called, “Come in.”

The large oak door opened, and one of the girls, a younger lass with a tangle of blonde curls, stepped into her office.

“Matilda, what brings you here?” asked Miranda, smiling at her. “How can I help you?”

“The girls would like you to come downstairs, madam,” said Matilda, her voice high and sweet. “Come with me.”

“Hmm, now, this sounds rather curious,” said Miranda, and stood, smoothing down her skirts. She strode across the room, and then allowed Matilda to take her by the hand and lead her from her office.

“The girls told me to blindfold you, but I don’t think that’s a good idea until we get down the stairs,” said Matilda. Miranda laughed.

“Yes, that would be a terrible idea, to go down the stairs blind,” said Miranda. Matilda giggled too, and let go of Miranda’s hand until they had reached the bottom of the carpeted steps. Once they were back on solid ground, Matilda reached into the pocket of her apron (for she was one of the kitchen girls, being too young to deal with the clientele) and withdrew a scrap of white fabric.

“Um,” said Matilda, looking up at Miranda. “Could you bend down for me, please?”

“Of course,” said Miranda with a fond smile, kneeling on the floor and closing her eyes as Matilda covered them with the fabric. Once the fabric was knotted securely (some of her hair was caught up in the knot, but that was okay), Matilda stepped back.

“Okay, can you still see?” asked Matilda. Miranda shook her head, surprised at how well Matilda had managed this. Perhaps she’d practiced on the other girls, which was likely. Her girls loved to have fun, whether it was pillow fights or helping each other bathe or simply gossiping.

“I trust you not to guide me into any walls,” said Miranda, a teasing lilt in her voice. Matilda giggled, quite pleased with herself.

Miranda felt quite odd, to be walking in the dark like this, but Matilda warned her of any walls or doorways or obstacles in her path. Not that there were many, and Miranda felt a sense of pride that her girls had prepared so well for this.

“Okay, we’re here now,” said Matilda at last. Miranda could smell sugary confections, and she could hear whispered conversations. She grinned, immediately understanding what this was. Even before Penelope ducked behind Miranda and untied the blindfold, she was prepared.

“Happy birthday!” her girls called, and Miranda grinned and clapped her hands together in delight.

“Oh, thank you, this is wonderful,” said Miranda, unable to stop grinning as she took in the room. She was in the main foyer, she found, and it was decorated with all manner of party decorations. Across the tables, though, was the real spread- many wrapped gifts and finely-prepared desserts, including at least two birthday cakes. Miranda had no doubt that the girls would be sharing them, and that they’d taste delicious.

“Miranda, you have done so much for us over the years that you’ve run this place,” said Penelope, smiling fondly at her. Miranda blushed, a sense of pride making her stand just a little taller. “You have found us employment, whether here or elsewhere, even when things have seemed most dire. You have taken care of us, and changed our lives for the better. But most importantly, you’ve given us a home. So thank you, for everything.”

“Oh, my wonderful girls,” said Miranda, covering her mouth with her hand as tears of happiness stung her eyes. “I do it all for you, because I want you to have the best lives possible. And if I can do that while providing safe entertainment for New Jorvik, well, so much the better.”

“We love you, madame Miranda,” said Matilda, wrapping her arms around Miranda’s waist. Miranda laughed and cried just a little as the other girls joined in on the group hug, all telling her how much they loved her and how grateful they were for everything that she’d done for them.

The party truly began once all of the kind words had been said and many tears of happiness had been shed. One of the girls put on a record, and they all began to dance as music played through the room. Miranda talked with her girls, listening to the newest gossip and laughing at silly things that had happened. Apparently, there had been many cake disasters in the making of Miranda’s vanilla and buttercream birthday cake, and the girls had gone to great lengths to hide things, even resorting to burning food to mask the scent of cake.

The girls danced and sang and laughed, but finally, it was time for the cake and presents. All of the girls gathered around to sing Miranda ‘happy birthday’, and she blushed and blew out her candles (not enough for her real age, but still a lot). And then, as she tucked into a slice of her delicious birthday cake, the girls began to bring forward their presents to Miranda. She felt rather like a queen, receiving gifts from her subjects, but she was closer to these girls than any nobility, and she loved them as if they were her own children. Many of them gave her simple things for herself, some hair combs and dresses and shoes, but others gave her gifts for the brothel. She enjoyed these the most, loving her job and wanting to make her house beautiful. But the last gift surprised her as she looked up from a finely-wrapped metal bracelet. She looked up into the eyes of her beloved, and gasped to see him here.

“Jamie,” said Miranda, grinning and hugging him. He smelled like a smithy, but Miranda loved the scent of it, inhaling deeply.

“Happy birthday, my love,” said Jamie, his face reddened not from the sun but from being in here. He tucked some hair behind her ear, and it was all Miranda could do not to pull him down on top of her and kiss him until the very tips of his ears turned pink. But she only smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Never thought I’d see you here again,” Miranda teased with a laugh. Jamie ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, I wanted to come to your birthday party,” said Jamie. “The girls invited me. They were quite insistent about it.” Miranda laughed again, looking around at her girls.

“Thank you, girls,” said Miranda, to much laughter from them. She giggled and kissed her Jamie again, standing to embrace him properly. She rested her forehead against his, smiling and closing her eyes. Her girls were so good to her. It was so lovely to have that kindness returned.


End file.
